Mainer part of Fort Hood shooting lawsuit

Retired Army Specialist shot three times

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told WMTW News 8 that next week she will introduce a bill to provide Purple Heart awards to the victims of the Fort Hood, Texas, shooting.

Collins said the bill would "ensure that they get the kind of compensation that they deserve.”

Many of those victims have already filed a lawsuit against the government, including one who lives in Maine.

"I went in line to see the doctor and that's when the shooting happened," said James Armstrong.

The retired Army Specialist was preparing for deployment on Nov. 5, 2009, at Fort Hood when he was shot three times by now-convicted Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan.

It was the worst mass shooting on a military post in U.S. History.

Shortly after, Armstrong met President Barack Obama at a memorial.

"And the biggest things were we're going to take care of you. 'We're going to do what we can to take care of you.' From that point on, there's been nothing else heard," Armstrong told WMTW News 8's Katie Thompson.

Now, he's one of approximately 150 victims and families suing the U.S. Government.

The Army has classified the shooting as workplace violence, but the lawsuit seeks to change it to an act of terrorism.

Doing so would allow the surviving victims and families of the 13 people killed to receive Purple Hearts, an award designated for those wounded or killed in combat. It would also give victims and their families long-term benefits.

"I have to think about my children. I have to think about my wife and I have to think about where I'm going to be in 30 years. Whether I'm going to be able to work, whether I'm going to be able to walk, I have to think about these things," Armstrong said.

Another part of the case hinges on the findings of an investigation by Collins surrounding the shooter.

"That he was clearly inspired by a radical violent Islamic ideology and this clearly was an act of terrorism," Collins said.

Collins' report claims that the Department of Defense and FBI knew that Hasan was having direct conversations with a known terrorist.

Attorney Reed Rubinstein said the document provides a factual foundation for the case.

"It knew he was a radical, it knew what he was planning, it knew he was talking to al- Qaida about killing American soldiers, but it covered it up," said Rubinstein.

"For the administration to persist in treating this as if it were an act of workplace violence is an absolute outrage and disrespectful to the many victims.

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